Improved apparatus for evaporating- liquids to obtain sugar



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REUBEN- WAKEFIELD, 0F HARDWICK, VERMONT.

Leners Paten: No. 95,958, dated octobef 19, 1869.

IMPROVE!) APPARATUS FOR EVAPORATING- LIQUIDS T0 OBTAIN SUGAR, cc.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and' making part of the same.

To all whom it may conce/m Be it known that I, REUBEN WAKEEIELD, of Hardwick, Caledonia county, State of Vermont, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-V Grate and Heater, of which the following is a full, clear, rand exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, making a part of this specification.v

The invention has forits object the construction of an evaporator, which shall b e economical in the consumptionof fuel, and adapted to be operated with but little attention and time on the part of the operator, while at the same time tbe system of feed-pipes shall be entirely under control, for the purpose of preventing the necessity of discharging into the pan anyaccumulation of sediment and impurities which may collect in said pipe; and to this end,

The invention consists in- First, combining with an evaporating-pan a tubular grate, connected with a tank or reservoir, for holding the sap, by a suitable feed-pipe, and further provided with another pipe, so arranged that the contents of the tank above referred to shall, after passing through the grate, be poured into the evaporating'pan; and

Second, in providing the feed-pipe with a stop-cock, so located that the contents of said pipe may be drawn od' through the stop-cock instead of passing'into the pan.

In the drawingi A represents an arch of bri'ck, or other suitable matelial.

A is a grate, formed of pipes so connected at their l,

ends as to permit a free circulation of water or other fluid throughout its entire length. This grate is supported in the arch at such distance from the bottom as willpermit the ashes to be readily withdrawn.

B is an evaporating-pan, made in the usual form,

and placed on arch A.

C is a feed-pipe leading from a tank or reservoir to one end of grate A.

C is another pipe attached to the other end of the grate, and leading to pan B.

c' is a stop-cock placed in pipe C', at or near the point Where the pipe is bent upward after leaving grate A',

- as is shown in the drawing.

The operation of my improved evaporator is as follows:

The pan Bis filled to such depth as will prevent it from being burned, and. grateA is also filled for the -saine p'urp'sefom the reservoir connected with pipe C.

A fire is then lighted upon the grate, and the sap, or other saccharine liquid, allowedv to flow slowly through the grate and connecting-pipes in such quantity as the rate of evaporation may determine, the iiow being regulated, preferably, by means of a stop-cock in pipe O.

As the process of boiling down progresses, there will more or less sediment collect in grate A and the feedpipes, and which, if allowed to pass .into the pan,would greatly deteriorate the quality ofthe sugar, and in order to free the pipes from this objectionable matter, I open stop-cock c, and force it out at that point.

Should it benecessary, I run water through the grate and pipes, in suchquantit-ies as may be required to cleanse them thoroughly.

I do not claim, broadly, the combination, with an evaporating-pan, of a pipe or a series of' pipes, so arranged that the sap shall pass through them, and be subjected to the action of heat before it is delivered into the pan, as that has been done in many instances before; but I believe that no one else has conceived the idea of making a portion of the feed-pipes form a part of the arch or fire-place, thus performing adouble function, and at the `same time soarranged that in case leaves or other foreign substances become burned on' the pipes, it can be readily washed ofi", without interfering with the boiling-process.

1. The combination of the evaporating-pan B, tubular grate A', and feed-pipes C O', all arranged and operating substantially as set forth.

2. The combination ofthe pan B, tubular grate A", feed-pipes 0 C and stop-cock c, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

The above specification of said invention signed and witnessed at Hardwick, this 28th day of April, A. D.

^ REUBEN WAKEFIELD. Witnesses v f WM. H. WARD, J oNA'rnaN WARD. 

